Love, Orken
by kixotical
Summary: Years later, when most of the Jade Winglet has left JMA, Jade Mountain has an all new group of students, including Auklet. When the school assigns a pen pal project to them, Auklet finds herself writing to a SandWing miles away, and even though they've never met, stranger turns into friendship, and friendship turns into something more...but not even friendship can ward off tragedy.
1. Prologue

**Warnings: Contains depression, mental disorders, the insinuation of cursing.**

* * *

 _ **Prologue**_

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

"But what if it's, like, some _really_ weird dragon, like one with no neck, or-"

"Auklet, _write."_

Wincing at Professor Azure's harsh tone, Auklet scrunched her face up defiantly, hoping she looked intimidating enough for Professor Azure to back down. Azure, however, kept his place, the old dragon staring at her from behind his glasses sitting low on his snout. "But Azure-" Auklet's pleads, however, were quickly silenced, as the old SeaWing gave her a look that she had come to know very well from her years of learning with him. He had many looks, but this one clearly stated, _do as I say, or I'll tell your mother._

Releasing a loud groan, Auklet slumped forward, allowing her tiara to tumble off her head and hit the floor with a loud clatter. Several of the other dragons in the library turned around to give Auklet a dirty look for making noise, but Auklet barely noticed, or even cared. "Can't I just do it later?" She pleaded, but it was clear that Azure wasn't going to retaliate. Having being sent here as a "personal escort" with Auklet by Queen Coral, the young princess could see why he would want to do his job right, but _come on._

Scowling, Azure put on his _annoyingly wise_ face. "You know what I say; procrastination makes easy things hard-"

"And hard things harder, yeah, yeah, I know," Auklet muttered, finishing up one of the many, many, _many_ quotes that Professor Azure enjoyed giving her on a daily basis. "I'll do it, just gimme the quill," she huffed, leaning forward and snatching the feather from the jar of ink. Leaning over the table, Auklet pressed the quill to the paper and began to write.

 _Dear random dragon,_

"No, no, you can't start like that," Azure scolded, balling up the piece of paper and putting a fresh one right in front of her. "You have to be _polite._ " Shooting Azure a dirty look, Auklet huffed and started again.

 _Dear my dearest comrade who I VERY much want to write to and am NOT being forced to,_

Azure merely gave her a look. "Fine, fine, I'll take it seriously," Auklet muttered, caving in and starting again.

 _To my new pen pal,_

 _Hey there; I guess you don't know me yet, and I don't know you, but that's cool because you're gonna learn a bit about me. Not enough to stalk me, but just enough on the slight chance where if we passed each other on the streets, you might go, "hey, you're auklet, my pen pal, right?" Anyways, I guess that bit covered the first section; my name is Auklet, and if you've heard that name before, I wouldn't be surprised, because my official title is Princess Auklet of the SeaWings, but I guess that's a bit straightforward._

 _I'm sorry I can't say anything about you, but unfortunately, I really don't know anything about you, but if you write me back that'll probably change, or at least I hope so. But until you do, I guess I'll have to talk a bit about me._

 _Well, for starters, my name is Auklet, and I'm a princess of the SeaWings, wait, crap, I already said that, but you get the idea. Since we'll probably never see each other, I guess it would be easier for me to say what I look like. I'm a green SeaWing, with green eyes, and I have all these really cool whirling patterns on my wings. It turns out that they only run in my family, which makes it a heck of a lot cooler._

 _The reason I'm doing this is because I go to this one school on Jade Mountain called Jade Mountain Academy (I know really original name), and apparently for this one project all the students are writing a letter to a pen pal and each letter is going to be mailed to a random spot anywhere in Pyrhhia. I mean, you could be another SeaWing, or an IceWing, or a NightWing. Ooh, it would be really cool if you were a NightWing because you would be able to read minds and stuff, like this one teacher at my school, Moonwatcher!_

 _Of course, I wouldn't be upset if you weren't a NightWing, I'm just putting that up there. To be honest, Jade Mountain Academy has dragons from every tribe, so I'm cool with whatever you are, even if it's a RainWing! (No hate against RainWings, if you are one!) You can write back soon or whenever you want, because I'm not such a hermit that I don't have other stuff to do, but I would like it if you wrote back in a week or so because that's when I have to at least give a report on how it's going._

 _Sincerely,  
_ _Princess Auklet of the SeaWings_

* * *

 **Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this prologue of _"Love, Orken"_ because I had a lot of fun writing it. TBH, I have no idea where I'm going with this, and this is more of a test run to see if this idea goes well. Normally, I can tell if it goes well by the number of reviews it gets because since this website doesn't count views on the main page, popularity is measured in reviews, so I would appreciate it if you left a review after reading this; thank you!**

 **Disclaimer: If anything happens to contradict the canon of the books in the future, just think of it as an alternate universe.**

* * *

 _ **Jade Mountain Academy**_

 **~Jade Winglet~**

MudWing: Sedge  
SandWing: None  
SkyWing: Carmine  
SeaWing: Angler  
RainWing: Paradise  
IceWing: Polar  
NightWing: Eclipsechaser

 **—**

 **~Gold Winglet~**

MudWing: Sandpiper  
SandWing: Obsidian  
SkyWing: Zodiac  
SeaWing: Auklet  
RainWing: Cacao  
IceWing: Permafrost  
NightWing: Soulreaper

—

 **~Silver Winglet~**

MudWing: Terra  
SandWing: Sahara  
SkyWing: Cliff  
SeaWing: Axolotl  
RainWing: Kapok  
IceWing: Frostbite  
NightWing: Rogueclaws

 **~Copper Winglet~**

MudWing: Birch  
SandWing: Asfar  
SkyWing: Everest  
SeaWing: Lazuli  
RainWing: Heliconia  
IceWing: Crevice  
NightWing: Secretrune

—

 **~Quartz Winglet~**

MudWing: Badger  
SandWing: Oryx  
SkyWing: Stratus  
SeaWing: Refraction  
RainWing: Sunshine  
IceWing: North  
NightWing: Dawnbringer

—

 **~Hybrid Winglet~**

Dawn: NightWing/SkyWing  
Puffin: SkyWing/IceWing  
Goldenscale: RainWing/SkyWing  
Coralflight: SeaWing/NightWing  
Salix: IceWing/RainWing  
Moss: MudWing/RainWing  
Aurora: IceWing/NightWing

 _ **Mother trucker do you know how hard it is to come up with 42 original names...**_


	2. Chapter I: Orken

**Okay, I just wanted to say thanks for all the support and encouragement on the last chapter, you guys are all so nice owo! Also, I just wanted to say that in this story, the P.O.V, or point of view will be switching; hope that doesn't bother anyone. Oh, and by the way, this chapter is a bit longer, than the other one, just a warning~**

* * *

 **Chapter I • Orken**

* * *

If Orken could choose any way to spend the first day of summer, chances are he would not have picked as a petty thief.

Of course, it wasn't exactly in his top ten. Not even in his top five. If he actually _could_ find someone who would want to spend the first day of summer something, he would either laugh in their faces or praise them. Either way, it wasn't exactly something _he_ would choose to do, given the choice.

If he had a choice in how his life went, Orken would have found a bajillion dollars buried somewhere in the desert by now, and gotten himself out of the...say, _financial pothole_ he was in. Of course, the universe was a dick, and had left him with nothing other than empty pockets and a choice: either have good morals and die homeless and hungry, or bend the law a bit just to survive. And personally, death didn't seem like a good thing to be on Orken's agenda.

While petty theft wasn't really how Orken wasnted to spend his day, it wasn't necessarily a bad day as far as days went. White strands of clouds lay dotted and speckled around the pale blue desert sky, reminding Orken of if someone had dabbed blobs of paint all over a piece of blue construction paper. The late afternoon slowly baked the streets of Possibility, the heat continuing to be unrelenting, not even as the sun slowly lowered in the sky.

The smell of cooking meat and fresh fruit filled Orken's nostrils as he lifted his snout up for a sniff of the air, and the young SandWing felt sharp claws of hunger scrape at his stomach. Having being used to empty plates, he never realized how hungry he was until the food was presented in front of him on a silver platter-or in this case, a group of merchants with carts looking to make a quick buck.

"Excuse me sir; can I interest you in some quality bear meat? Fresh from the Sky Kingdom!" A SkyWing merchant with coppery scales cried out, grabbing Orken by the shoulder. Surprised, Orken whipped around and gave a look of disdain; he had spent enough time in the markets to spot a con from a while away. The "quality bear meat" the SkyWing was supposedly selling actually appeared to be goat meat, something that Orken could get down the block for five coins.

"No thanks, I'm good," he said in a slightly resentful way, whipping around and rushing through the crowd. Orken wasn't too discouraged, though; the SkyWing was just another one of the merchants that the Summer Festival usually attracted.

Living in the city his whole life, Orken had almost come to think of the city as "his" city-he knew every street, every building, ever alley like the back of his own talon. So, altogether, the young SandWing found it hard to find anything wrong with his home, but over the course of his five years as a living, breathing dragon he had managed to find two things that could use some improvement: the money problem and all the dragons flying through.

To be honest, Possibility had never exactly been the "richest" city; most of the dragons who lived there were either poor or flat-out broke; the terms "rich" or "wealthy" weren't really used often. However, that part has never really bothered Orken; to be honest, there was only one thing in this city that really grated on his nerves, and that was the con artists.

Every city had a few, but the same thing happened every year around the Summer Festival; when dragons flocked to Possibility for the Summer Festival, they always brought loads of con artists trailing behind them, and this year was no exception. One time, Orken had made the mistake of bringing his youngest sister, Fennec, the Summer Market, and some MudWing had managed to wrangle 20 silver coins out of her just for some asparagus and a mango.

 _Kill or be killed,_ Orken thought as his glittering back eyes drew over the stands, his mind calculating which things he could take without anyone noticing. If dragons were going to con him, then he wouldn't get out of it by asking them nicely. If he were going to survive, he had to take a few things here and there.

Shoving his way through the surging crowd, Orken licked his lips as he gazed at the goods displayed before him, wondering which stand to take from. He could only take from one stand, because then the clerk would surely notice, and then Orken would be preoccupied with another problem: getting back to the house and losing them before they caught him.

As the young SandWing padded over the dirt roads, woven and eroded from years of talons, a flash of silver passed by his eye. It moved so fast that Orken almost missed it, but when he did see it, he stopped in his tracks, suddenly intrigued. Turning around, Orken craned his neck

However, it was the goods displayed that made Orken's heart stop— _gems._ Real life, authentic, 100% crystals. Rubies, emeralds, diamonds, pearls; all woven into necklaces, earrings, jewelry boxes, you name it. Orken knew for a fact that those kinds of things _never_ showed up in Possibility, not even in the nicest stores on the east corner. To see just one of them here, even at the Summer Market, was a rarity. Orken realized that getting those gems now might be the only chance he would have to get anything that nice.

The SandWing's mouth watered as he imagined all the food just one of those stones could bring him, Fennec, or his older sister, Diamondback. As if hearing his thoughts, Orken's stomach gave a long, low growl, as if it wanted to make this come true too.

"Don't worry; I hear you loud and clear," Orken mumbled, patting his stomach as he remembered his meager breakfast of a single lizard. Putting on his best _I'm just an innocent dragonet with a sackfull of coins_ face that he used every time he did this sort of thing, Often strolled as casually as he could over to the stand.

Right away he realized just how easy this would be. Not only was the clerk absently counting his money, not even paying attention to the product, he also had them just splayed out in the open without the slightest concern that someone might, oh I don't know, _steal_ one.

Quietly as he could, Orken began looking around the gems, poking the stones with a single black claw, observing his reflection in a ruby. _That would look great on Diamondback,_ Orken thought, stuffing the gem into the satchel that hung around his neck.

As Orken's talons glanced over the glittering rocks and gemstones, his heart leapt as he saw the large variety; there were stones that he had occasionally heard of here and there, like obsidian and diamonds, and even things he had never heard of, like something called "cactus quartz."

The clerk was so absorbed in counting his money, that a full 30 seconds passed before he noticed Orken was there. By then, Orken was rubbing his talons over something called "painite" when the clerk snapped to attention. "Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?" The SeaWing cried in a gruff voice, and Oren winced. He hoped he could get away quickly; this was _not_ someone he wanted to get caught by.

Putting on his most innocent eyes possible, Orken reached into his satchel and pulled out a single brown pouch. "Oh, nothing sir," he said, using the innocent voice that he always did whenever he did something like this. "I'm just doing a bit of shopping."

Clasping the pouch in his talons, Orken shook it around, giving off the impression that there were coins inside. _Scrap metal in a pouch—classic,_ Oren thought, but the clerk didn't seem amused. In fact, as soon as the words slipped past Orken's lips, the scowl displayed across the SeaWing's face only got deeper.

"Say, do you mind if I look _inside_ the pouch?" He asked suspiciously, holding out his talons. "We've just been getting a lot thieves around here." Instantly, Orken felt the color drain from his face. Maybe this guy _wasn't_ an amateur.

"Um...sure. Just take the bag," Orken said, the words coming quicker than he wanted to, his mind racing to come up with a suitable response. Maybe he had to come up with a better technique. With the clerk's eyes burning into him and the dragons who were now starting to stare, Orken found that his mind drew a blank. Panicking, Orken flung the bag onto the counter and bolted down the road, shoving dragons out of his way as he went.

It only took a few moments for Orken to realize how stupid he had been, and when he did, he practically smacked himself. He had just barely turned the corner when he heard a loud voice bellow, _"Thief!",_ which was quickly followed by loud grunts and surprised cries, like dragons being shoved out of the way.

One time, after Fennec had just finished reading a fantasy scroll about dragons with superpowers, she had said she wanted to find out if Orken had super speed. To find out for sure, she said, she would light a fire behind him and see how fast he could run. Orken had then told his sister that if she ever did that, he would only shout "fiddlesticks!" and be burnt to a crisp.

Right now, Orken felt like he was being tested for superspeed, with the wildfire right about to burn him, only right now he felt like screaming a word very different from "fiddlesticks".

Racing through the crowd, Orken tried to spread his wings out to fly away, but as soon as he tried, he quickly found out that with all the dragons milling around, there was hardly any room to stretch his wings a little, let alone stretch them far enough to take off and fly. Adjusting the sack around his neck, Orken tried to run faster, but as he ran, he quickly realized something else:

Gems.

Were.

 _Heavy._

From the stand, the gems had looked delicate and fragile, like pieces of candy or stained glass window. But now that they were actually in his pouch, Orken realized that gems were just really shiny rocks, which meant that just like rocks, they were heavy as a word that Diamondback had banned him from saying a long time ago. However, Orken could now hear the SeaWing's furious cries, even though Orken must now be two whole blocks from the Summer Market.

However, as he got farther away from the market, Orken found the number of dragons thinning, slowly lowering from the large, noisy crowd in the market to strangled numbers watching the SeaWing pursue him from the sidelines.

Experimentally, Orken spread out his wings a little bit, and quickly realized something; now that he was away from the market, _he could actually fly._ A determined look slowly crept across the SandWing's face as his off-white, brown-speckled wings stretched to their full length, and Orken found that his talons were slowly leaving the ground.

He wasn't even a few feet in the air, however, when he felt the weight of the gems tugging on his neck. As Orken lifted into the air, he felt the stones pull him down, yanking on his neck. _Dang it._ Why had he gotten so many? He didn't need to be rich; he just needed enough to be able to afford some comforts for him and his sisters.

For the first time that day, Orken felt sharp claws of fear claw at his stomach. If the SeaWing clerk caught him, then he would certainly be turned in, and then what? He had never considered it, but he could _actually go to jail._ The thought in his mind, Orken spread his wings and tried to fly a bit faster, sweat beading on his forehead.

Just a little farther, and he would be home. Just a little farther...suddenly, Orken felt a sharp yank at the bag.

Startled, the SandWing felt the strap choke at his neck as he was yanked backwards. Glancing behind him, Orken saw that the bag had caught on a cactus, firmly planted on the prickles. If he had enough time, he might have gone ahead and carefully picked it off, but time was not a luxury that was available to him right now. Yanking fiercely, Orken tugged on the back until it came loose with a satisfying sound of it ripping away from the cactus.

Now that it was free, Orken spread his wings, and found that he suddenly felt lighter. A _lot_ lighter, actually. Spreading his wings, Orken found that he could suddenly fly much higher and faster than he had been to before, which was a big relief, because he could hear the distant wingbeats of the SeaWing slowly gaining on him. With a burst of speed, Orken flapped his wings and sprinted through the air over the rooftops of Possibility.

Before long, the wingbeats of the SeaWing faded into the distance, causing Orken to give a sigh of relief. _Finally._ Lowering himself to the ground, Orken scanned the rooftops until he caught sight of the familiar mud brick roof and small desert marigolds that Fennec had planted outside that spring. Smiling, Orken lowered himself to the ground, landing at the front door.

Stepping forward, Orken reached out for the doorknob, then stopped. While it was basically the main way the small family got by, Diamondback had never approved of Orken's thievery, and the young SandWing knew that his sister wouldn't exactly be pleased to learn that he had stolen something as valuable as gems. Still, there was no way he could bring them back, not after he had successfully gotten away with them.

Taking a deep breath, Orken finally pushed open the door, into the same sight he had been looking at for the past five years. He, Diamondback and Fennec had never been the richest of dragons, and one look at their house would tell you exactly that. It was a one-room house, built out of mud bricks with small windows displayed all around the home.

Aligned against the wall there were two rickety old beds; one for Diamondback, and one that Orken shared with Fennec, and beside them sat a single scroll rack, though there were only five or six scrolls actually on it. A single stove fueled by dragon fire sat in the corner of the room, and in the center there was a large rug that Diamondback had woven, detailed descriptions of dancing SandWings and other dragons woven into the surface.

The rug was the only thing that brought any actual joy to the home, though to Orken's relief, the creator wasn't home. The only resident, at the moment, was a single small SandWing, sitting upon the rug and playing with two desert horned lizards.

At the sight of his sister, Orken smiled. Fennec was a young SandWing, not even a full year old, with white-gold wings that reminded Orken of the color of the SandWing palace. Small brown speckles wove across her body, most of them being centered around her snout in a series of freckles. As soon as Orken entered the house, the young SandWing jumped to her feet and beamed.

"Orken! Guess what I found?" She cried gleefully, bouncing up and down on her talons. Orken didn't even have a chance to respond before she went on. "After Diamondback went to work, I found these two lizards outside, and they are _so cute;_ I'm trying to make them mate so I can have a bunch of baby lizards! Only thing is, I can't tell if one is a boy or a girl; can you help me check?"

Remembering what he had learned about lizard reproduction in school, Orken's stomach twisted at the thought of checking to see the lizard's gender. Taking out his satchel, Orken tried to change the subject.

"Well, that's pretty cool, but guess what? While I was at the Summer Market, I got you a present!" At the mention of a present, Fennec started bouncing up and down on her talons. "Really? You got me a present?" The young SandWing called, elated. Smiling, Orken reached for his satchel, peeled open the flap...and felt his heart stop.

"No. No. No no no, _dang it!"_ Orken cried, banging his fists on the ground. Now he could see why the bag had gotten so much lighter; when he had ripped the satchel free from the cactus, a large rip had formed at the base, and apparently it had been large enough for most of the gems to fall out, except two.

"What is it?" Fennec asked, peering inside the bag, and instantly her face lit up. "Ooh! _Pretty!"_ She cried, clasping the cactus quartz in her talons. As the held the purple-and-gold stone up to the light, her face got even brighter. "Why are you sad? These are so pretty!" She exclaimed, rolling the stone around on the carpet. Orken sighed, allowing his shoulders to slump, and peered in the bag at the other stone: a single ruby, the one meant for Diamondback.

"Yeah but...I used to have a whole satchel of them," Orken mumbled, and Fennec looked over at her brother, sticking her lip out. "Oh...I'm sorry you lost your pretties," she mumbled, and Fennec was so cute at that moment, Orken almost smiled. Suddenly, Fennec brightened up, as if she had suddenly remembered something.

"Ooh, wait! I know what'll make you feel better!" Racing over to the small, rickety table where the family of three ate their meager meals, Fennec scooped a single piece of paper off the table, and raced it across the room to Orken. As soon as it was closer, Orken realized that it wasn't a piece of paper, but an envelope the color of jade, held down with a single wax seal.

"It came today a little while after Diamondback left! Diamondback always says not to open any mail until she gets back, but since it's for you, I figured it counts!" Fennec cried, depositing the envelope in front of Orken. _Deliver to any house in Possibility_ , it read, and in the corner, Orken saw the return address, a place called _Jade Mountain Academy._

Curiously, Orken broke off the wax seal, where it crumbled onto the floor, one of Fennec's lizards tentatively dabbing it with it's tongue. As soon as he dumped the contents onto the floor, two things feel out: a piece of paper with a green frame, and a letter scrawled onto a piece of parchment in script handwriting. Curiously, Orken picked up the piece of paper first.

 _To the recipient of this letter,_  
 _Congratulations! Enacted a few days ago, you have been selected to participate in Jade Mountain Academy's new pen pal program! In this program, you have been chosen to become pen pals with one of our students, which could be anyone, from a SeaWing to a RainWing. You are kindly asked to respond to this letter as soon as possible, in order to keep the pen pals going.  
-Sincerely, Clay of the MudWings, Teacher at Jade Mountain Academy_

If dragons had eyebrows, Orken would have cocked his at that exact moment. Pen pal program? What the heck was that about? Out of pure curiosity, Orken picked up the other thing that had been in there, the letter written on parchment. Just who _was_ his pen pal...

Auklet. Wasn't that some kind of bird? Whatever, it didn't matter. To be honest, this Auklet character seemed rather...interesting. For a princess of the SeaWings, she didn't seem to speak all regally and formally, as Orken had assumed most royalty would act. Instead, she seemed kind of like...and actual dragon, though in all honesty, she seemed like she was actually being _forced_ to write to Orken.

Still, the whole idea intrigued him. A pen pal program, and with a SeaWing princess, no less. Maybe this was worth giving a shot.

"Hey Fennec, where's our paper?"

* * *

 _Dear Auklet,_

 _Oh wow, I didn't realize how little writing I did...how do you even start a letter? While I'm writing, I might as well get it out there that I'm not exactly a NightWing or a RainWing, though I did meet a NightWing once, and they had some really nice scrolls...I mean, used to have some._

 _Anyways, hi! My name's Orken, and I'm a SandWing in Possibility. Not sure if you've ever heard of it; we're not exactly a usual town. We're actually right on the border of the SandWing and SkyWing kingdoms, so those two dragons make up most of our population, but we also have some IceWings and a few MudWings around, so that's pretty cool. I've only ever met a few NightWings and SeaWings, and I've only ever seen pictures of RainWings, so I can't even fathom what it would be like to go to school with so many of them._

 _Do you guys ever run out of food? How do they feed all of you? Sorry, I'm just really hungry...not that I'm always hungry! I'm not poor or anything, I'm just hungry AT THIS MOMENT; certainly not ALL THE TIME. Whatever, just ignore everything I just said. Anyways, I think this pen pal idea is pretty cool, so please write be back soon!_

 _Sincerely, your new pen pal, Orken._

* * *

 **Hey guys! Sorry this chapter was so long; I had to cut the letter from Orken to Auklet off by a few paragraphs because this thing was getting so long; hope you guys still enjoyed it though!**


	3. Chapter II: Auklet

**Hey guys! If you'll look, you'll see that I updated the prologue to show a list of everyone at Jade Mountain, including a hybrid winglet. This will be explained later in the story, but basically, it's a new winglet added recently to diversify the school, if that makes any sense.**

 **Also, the reason this chapter is on the front page is that I decided to rewrite the chapter because I really, really didn't like the old version, so just so you know everything past the middle is cut out, and replaced with something new. Alright? Good.**

 **Oh, and I'll be updating more often! (Almost forgot)**

* * *

 **Chapter II** **• Auklet**

* * *

The feel of rock scraping against her talons.

The cool mountain breeze blowing into her face.

The rush of adrenaline racing through her body.

Auklet narrowed her eyes, gripping the ground with her talons. She stood in the racing starting position, her back legs taut as bowstrings, her emerald green wings spread out, resembling summer leaves, ready to take off at the slightest provocation.

Beads of sweat formed on the young SeaWing's forehead, dappling her snout like scale patterns. Her emerald green tail writhed from side to side, brushing against the cool surface of the rock, in an attempt to calm her nerves. The wind blew delicately and soft like it was trying to please Auklet's senses, and the soft trilling of a thrush, maybe two, echoed over the mountaintops.

It was a perfect day for a race.

Narrowing her eyes to slits, Auklet tilted her ears back, allowing the cool breeze to wash over her rich green scales. The weather today was calming, with no whipping winds or screaming rainstorms; just calm breezes and the calls of birds.

 _Ack, I can already imagine Azure writing a poem about it,_ Auklet thought, forcing herself not to make a gagging motion, then quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. No, now was _not_ the time to think about this; right now, she had to focus on the matter at hand, which was 25% releasing her nerves, 15% getting in some practice, and okay, 60% just beating Zodiac.

Glancing over, Auklet caught a glimpse of the familiar long legs and glinting yellow eyes of the SkyWing as he stretched his limbs, the sunlight glinting off of his coppery scales. Even as he prepared to warm up, there was something loose and cocky about him, as if he were already sure he would win.

"Are you guys sure you want to do this?" A small voice piped up from behind Auklet. "I mean, it would be a lot easier to settle this in the prey center over a cow or—"

Releasing a sigh of exasperation, Auklet allowed her head to droop in annoyance; she didn't even have to turn around to realize who was speaking. As much as Auklet loved her friend, sometimes she was so pessimistic that she made Auklet want to leap out of a window with her wings pinned to her back.

"Sandpiper, not now," Auklet hissed, swiveling her neck around to face her. Sandpiper, a young MudWing, allowed her neck to sink deeper into her body. "Sorry," she whispered, and Auklet quickly softened. Sandpiper was a MudWing, meaning that she was large and muscular, with intimidating spikes on her protective plates and unrelenting strength.

She was supposed to be dangerous and menacing, able to snap someone's spine, but some days Sandpiper appeared to be as dangerous as a piece of paper, and just as fragile. Sighing, Auklet turned back around. She never liked hurting Sandpiper's feelings, but she didn't have time to apologize right now.

Turning around, Auklet met Zodiac's eyes with a competitive glare. "Well, Zodiac? You ready?" She challenged, flexing her wings. Zodiac, however, hardly seemed worried, as the SkyWing merely yawned before getting into the starting position. "I dunno, princess? You willing to get your claws dirty?" He shot back. Instantly, Auklet's scales itched with anger and annoyance, but the worst thing she could do right then was to shoot back with a comeback and satisfy Zodiac with her anger.

Instead, she took a deep breath, allowing the breath to move through her body, rolling over her muscles, relaxing her until she felt her senses heighten. "Sandpiper? Can you start the countdown?" Auklet called back, adjusting herself.

As usual, Sandpiper didn't respond right away. "Well...I still don't think this is necessary. What both of you said was mean, but if you both just agreed that you're both equally good racers we could go in a eat breakfast; I mean, I bet if we left now we could still get a chicken or something-"

 _"Sandpiper!"_

"Alright, alright! On your marks..."

Auklet tightened her muscles.

"Get set..."

She allowed the wind to roll over her, flexing her wings, leaning forward.

"Go!"

The word had barely escaped Sandpiper's mouth before Auklet shot off into the air, pushing as hard as she could, feeling her wings lift her off the ground. In no time at all, she saw Sandpiper become a faint brownish blur below, a smear in the greater picture.

The wind shrieked, in her ears, screaming, urging her to go faster, making high pitched whistling noises as her wings sliced through the air like butter, so softly and smoothly Auklet felt as if she had been doing it her whole life. For a moment, Auklet forgot she was racing, and just felt the joy of flying overcome her.

And then she saw Zodiac.

Shiny coppery scales gleaming in the early-morning sunlight, with the way Zodiac moved when he flew he almost resembled a crackling fire. Even though she had gotten a head start, Zodiac had quickly caught up, which caused Auklet to silently curse herself for being so careless in flying.

Seeing the shock on Auklet's face, Zodiac let out a laugh. "See you at the finish line!" He called out. Auklet clenched her talons in anger as Zodiac flapped his massive wings, rounding the corner of the mountain and disappearing among the clouds.

 _That arrogant little seaweed-brain!_ Auklet thought furiously, feeling the blood rush to her face. Zodiac wasn't exactly mean, but there were times when his oversize-ego made her want to rip his horns off and feed them to him.

Zodiac always had to be the best at everything: the best writer, the best fighter, the best something-else-Auklet-couldn't-think-of-right-now-because-she-was-too-mad. Sometimes, merely sharing a winglet with the SkyWing felt more like a punishment than "the chance of a lifetime" as everyone at Jade Mountain kept calling it.

 _Come on Auklet. Your one chance to put that pufferfish-head in his place and you're gonna lose now?_ Auklet thought furiously, flapping her wings as hard as she could. It wasn't that she was bad at flying; it was actually one of her favorite things to do at school. It's just that given the choice, she probably wouldn't have chosen to compete against Zodiac, a _SkyWing,_ who was known for their flying skills.

Zodiac had laughed when she challenged him, and to be honest, Auklet now thought it probably hadn't been the best idea. All she had wanted to do was beat Zodiac at what he was best at because she was just _so sick_ of seeing that squid-brain joke around like he didn't have a care in the world and go around like he wanted to be the best at everything.

 _"Well, that kind of sounds like you,"_ Sandpiper had said sheepishly after Auklet was complaining to her about Zodiac after she had challenged him. Auklet had sat up so fast, she wondered if it was possible to get whiplash just from pushing your head up.

 _"WHAT? I AM SO NOT LIKE THAT!"_ Auklet had roared back, stamping her foot. She could be a little bit competitive from time to time, but she was certain that she was _nothing_ like Zodiac. She just liked the feeling she got when she _did_ win—after all, competition forces you to do your best.

 _Well, you're gonna lose this competition if you don't get your butt into gear,_ a voice at the back of her head whispered, jolting Auklet out of her thoughts. Remembering just why she had challenged Zodiac in the first place, Auklet leaned her neck forward, spreading her wings wide in an attempt to get farther ahead.

 _Why couldn't I have challenged him to a swimming competition?_ Auklet thought, wanting to smack herself for her own stupidity. If she was going to put Zodiac in his place, the least she could have done was pick something she had a chance of winning.

No, correction—she should have picked something she was _certain_ she could win. _I still have a chance to beat this guy,_ Auklet told herself, leaning forward. Twisting her wings, Auklet rounded the corner of the mountain and realized that just one more bend and she would be at the end.

 _Finally, someone will be able to put that smoke-breather in his place,_ Auklet thought. _I bet now he won't be so and annoying and arrogant and I won't have to put up with how he "took on five IceWings at once" and "how he was one of the bodyguards for Queen Tourmaline" or anything else like that. Oh, I can't wait to see the look on that kelp-face when I cross that finish line and—_

 _Crap._

As Auklet broke through the layer of clouds separating the Claws of the Cloud Mountains from the rest of the world, the young SeaWing caught sight of the line that had been drawn by she and Sandpiper (or more Sandpiper; Auklet had been busy shooting dirty looks at Zodiac and calling him every foul name she could think of while Sandpiper rolled her eyes in exasperation) to mark the starting line.

When she had taken off, it had been a clean, straight line that hadn't had a chance to be used yet, but now as she neared it she saw that the dirt around it was more scuffed up, and the line was messier than before like someone had dragged themselves through it.

And as she neared closer to the finish line, she saw a familiar SkyWing, lounging lazily in the sun.

"Ah, there you are, princess!" Zodiac called. Only thing was that Auklet had learned by now that when Zodiac called her "princess" he didn't exactly mean it in the way that other dragons did. Sandpiper looked up, and as soon as she saw Auklet coming, she instantly cringed, as if she knew what was coming.

"That...that's not fair!" Auklet panted, embarrassingly out of breath as she collapsed on the rock in front of Zodiac. "You're a Skewing! SkyWings ate built for flying; that wasn't a fair race!" Clambering to her feet, Auklet craned her neck to her full height, looking Zodiac right in the eye.

Zodiac, however, was a year older than Auklet and still big for his age, so even though Auklet craned to her full height, Zodiac easily towered over her. Still, Zodiac shrugged his shoulders. "It was perfectly fair. If I recall correctly, _you're_ the one who suggested a flying race, didn't you?" Zodiac pointed out.

 _"Well alright then, Mr. Seabottom! If you think you're so good, then how about I race you tomorrow morning at dawn? First one to fly around the peak of Jade Mountain wins!"_ Zodiac declared, raising his voice several octaves so that it slightly resembled a mock impression of Auklet.

Auklet, in this case, was silent, trying desperately to wrap her head around the situation. "It—it was kelp bottom," she finally muttered, and as soon as the words slipped past her lips, Auklet realized instantly that was the wrong thing to say.

At her reply, Zodiac burst out laughing, his face turning red as he gasped for breath hysterically. Auklet felt her face flush even more to a deep maroon, feeling the frustration bubbling up inside her. This wasn't how this was supposed to go!

"Oh, lighten up, princess, " Zodiac managed to get out between chuckles, wiping his eyes and slugging Auklet in the arm. Auklet, too furious to speak, merely shot Zodiac a toxic glare. "Hmph," she huffed, which she realized too late sounded less like a competitor Zodiac should be scared of and more like a spoiled one-year-old.

Still chuckling to himself, Zodiac spread his wings and flapped off towards the entrance of Jade Mountain just as shades of pale blue were beginning to replace the hues of the pink and orange sunrise, and Auklet was just feeling her anger reach a high point.

"Why you little no-good—" Auklet yelled after him, about to scream out the worst curse words she could think of when she felt a thick, leathery tail covering her mouth. Scowling, she looked over at Sandpiper, who shook her head. "C'mon, Auklet, is it _really_ worth it?" She muttered, raising the arches above her eyes, Auklet hung her head, allowing the fight to drain out of her body.

"No," she admitted with a sigh. "But I mean—ARGH, that kelp-face just makes me want to slam my talons into his face over and over and over," Auklet said, punching the ground with her talons. She probably would have broken her talons on the rock if Sandpiper hadn't grabbed it to make her stop. "Well, I don't think punching a mountain is going to help," she pointed out, and Auklet smiled.

When dragons looked at Sandpiper, they often saw that one shy, quiet girl who didn't say much. They often thought that being shy was her personality, but personally, Auklet liked the side of her she saw most often—the nerdy, weird, ambitious type who knew when to raise her voice—especially when it would keep her friend from cracking open her talons on a slab of rock.

Even though she didn't say anything, Sandpiper shook her head. "You know, if it wasn't for me, you would probably be in a full body cast by now," she giggled, nudging Auklet with her wing. It was supposed to be a friendly nudge, but since Sandpiper was so strong it nearly toppled the smaller dragon over.

"And prison," Auklet managed to say, forcing herself upright. "Don't forget prison."

With a smirk, Sandpiper rolled her eyes. "Oh, please. I've seen your mom. If anyone tried to lock up her "precious little baby" she would be on them with the entire SeaWing army and have them sentenced to death before they could even bind your mouth," she laughed, nudging Auklet as the two of them passed under the arch that marked the entrance to Jade Mountain Academy, and Auklet was forced to agree.

Sometimes, it seemed like just because she was the youngest of the three SeaWing princesses, Queen Coral treated Auklet like a baby; like she was a newborn dragonet instead of six years old. Tsunami had already been in a war and started the school by the time she was seven, and Anemone had started at the school when she was _two,_ but of course, lucky Auklet had to wait YEARS before her mother would even consider letting her even leave the castle without at least nine personal escorts.

It had taken a lot of negotiating on Tsunami and Anemone's part for Auklet to be able to attend the school, and even _then_ Queen Coral had insisted on sending boring old Azure, who couldn't go a full hour without quoting something from a dusty old book.

"You have to understand," Tsunami had said during one of her visits to the Sea Kingdom, trying to comfort Auklet after Queen Coral hadn't let her go to an orchestral concert near the castle. "Queen Coral had some...issues with getting heirs to the throne," Tsunami had continued, twiddling her talons as she remembered. "That one statue of Orca killed off fourteen daughters; the only reason I survived is that I was taken away by the Talons of Piece for that stupid prophecy, and we had to go through a lot to keep _you_ here," Tsunami had said, smiling, nudging Auklet playfully. That had made her feel better, but not much.

Anemone, however, had a fairly different idea on the subject. "Don't worry about it; Mother can be _really_ paranoid sometimes," she had said as she snapped two bronze bracelets to her wrists. "You know she kept me harnessed to her chest for a _whole year_ after I was born, right?" Usually, every time Auklet complained to Anemone about their mother, it usually turned into a conversation about Anemone, but for the most part, Auklet didn't mind as long as she wasn't forced play "dress up" with Anemone and her jewelry again.

"Auklet? Auklet!" Sandpiper yelled, snapping Auklet out of her thoughts. Feeling her face go red, Auklet realized she had been silent for quite some time, while Sandpiper had been trying to get her attention. "Sorry, sorry," she muttered, waving her talons. "But yeah, I guess my mom isn't that bad."

As she spoke, Sandpiper looked at Auklet, arching her eyebrow. "Were you listening?" She said, and Auklet scratched at the ground with her talon, feeling her face go red. "Um...kind of not?" She admitted, and Sandpiper shook her head, which only made Auklet's face turn an even deeper shade of red. "Yeah, I could tell, because I was asking you about _that,"_ Sandpiper said, and for a moment she thought she was talking about Auklet, but then, after looking at her eyes, Auklet realized she was pointing behind her.

Now curious, Auklet glanced behind her, wondering what Sandpiper could be looking at. Now, normally the MudWing was pretty observant, noticing things no one else noticed, but she usually didn't call it out, otherwise, she would be talking all day (which Auklet couldn't even imagine; Sandpiper wasn't exactly a chatterbox). When Auklet glanced behind her, at first she couldn't tell what it was.

It seemed to be kind of a golden-orange smear in the sky, barely noticeable as the sky was turning warm shades of pink and orange as the sun began to rise. Still, as the shape grew closer, Auklet squinted her rich green eyes and as she watched, slowly managed to identify a long, curvy neck and two massive wings that greatly resembled a SkyWing.

For a moment, Auklet thought it was Zodiac, but then she remembered that the SkyWing had gone inside after his little gloating escapade (which still made her talons itch just thinking about it). "Who's that?" Auklet asked, confused. It seemed unlikely that dragons as far north as the SkyWings would ever fly to Jade Mountain even by accident, and as far as she knew, that one firesales dragon (Cleril or something) wasn't due to visit any time soon.

Sandpiper lifted her talon to keep the sun out of her eyes, trying to view the orange smear. "I think it's the delivery guy," she muttered in response, squinting her yellow-ringed eyes. "See that brown sack he has? It has a mail emblem on it." In all honesty, Auklet didn't really see it since her eyes weren't nearly as good as Sandpiper's, but she still nodded anyways.

Suddenly, Sandpiper's mouth split into a wide grin, and her talon dropped away from her face so fast Auklet thought she was having a seizure. "Ooh, Auklet! What if it's that pen pal project we have?" She cried excitedly, bouncing lightly on her talons. Instantly, Auklet felt all the excitement of having an unknown dragon at Jade Mountain drain out of her, and her eyebrows creased together. "Oh; wonderful," she muttered without enthusiasm.

She could see why Sandpiper or any other dragon would like it; the idea of talking to another dragon anywhere around the world seemed kind of cool. But soon enough, that cool-ness was dimmed by two factors. One, once she got the letter she would know who the dragon was and that would take all the suspense and excitement out of it. Two, the whole letter-thing just seemed like another project Azure would force her to work on.

So when the SkyWing finally did land on the mountain and deposited a box of letters labeled Jade Mountain, Auklet wanted to run back to her room in the Gold Dorm and bury herself in her bed until the initial excitement of the pen-pal project died down, and everyone else at school would see just how stupid this whole project was.

"Come on; aren't you at least a little bit curious?" Sandpiper insisted, forming a small tear in the box with her talon. Auklet rolled her eyes, sitting down on the rock. "Yeah, yeah, whatever." She mumbled, burrowing her snout into her legs, which warranted a look from Sandpiper.

"Oh hey, I found yours, and...here's mine!" Auklet declared, holding up the two envelopes as if she had found some buried treasure. Tossing an envelope at Auklet, the piece of paper fluttered to the ground uncharacteristically slow compared to the way Sandpiper ripped up her own letter.

For a moment, Auklet only stared at the letter as if it might be radioactive. "Come on; open it!" Sandpiper insisted, dumping the contents of her own letter onto the mountain, which was a single piece of paper.

"Ugh, fine," Auklet groaned, grasping the envelope in her talons. The paper felt unusually thin and cheap in her talons; nothing like the thick, rich paper she was used to as royalty. Curiously, Auklet used a single black talon to make a tear in the envelope, where a single piece of paper fell out. It was thin and heavily creased as if it had already been in bad shape when the letter had been sent.

 _Wow, this guy couldn't even afford to get a new piece of paper. This outta be good,_ Auklet thought, thinking about what a cheapskate this guy must be as she took the letter and began to read.

Orken. Interesting name; wasn't that some kind of cactus? Auklet already figured this guy was a SandWing before she actually got the body of the letter. _A SandWing in Possibility,_ she thought as she read, and she remembered what one of the scrolls in the library had said about Possibility. When she read it, it seemed like one of those towns were a bunch of dragons walked around and didn't eat meat and lived in harmony and sang kumbaya.

Now as she read through it, it still seemed kind of like that, except for two differences: this kid Orken had hardly even met a NightWing or even a SeaWing, and Auklet had just kind of assumed that all dragons lived in peace there, but she guessed there were some tribes that weren't quite as...diverse. Also, Orken didn't really seem like some kind of boring hippie; what he wrote was kind of funny and interesting.

"So? Who did you get?" Sandpiper piped up. "I got this one IceWing named Changbai!" She declared, revealing the letter to Auklet, which the young SeaWing realized was wet as if ice had melted on it.

"I got this one SandWing named Orken," she said, trying to make it seem like she was indifferent either way and apparently she succeeded. Sandpiper huffed, stamping her talon in annoyance. "Come on! You have to admit that this is a _little_ bit cool!"

"Mmmm...nope. Not really," Auklet lied, yet she still folded the letter and tucked it under her wing, wondering about this "Orken."

* * *

 _Dear Orken,_

 _1\. Well, I'm a SeaWing, so I guess you can check that off your bucket list! Also, some NightWings are pretty cool, but there's this one NightWing in my winglet (those are like groups or dorms) named Soulreaper who's a real stick-in-the-mud, everything has to be " exactly perfect" according to her._

 _2\. Nah, we don't run out of food because there are a bunch of goats and stuff here, but there's also a lake for fish and some fruit from the rainforest, though I've never asked Tsunami (she's my sister; the headmistress) about how we get the fruit; I'll have to ask.  
_

 _3\. I've definitely heard of Possibility; we even have some scrolls on it in our library! Tsunami told me that there are a bunch of hybrids there; is that true? I mean, there is this one winglet for hybrids at my school, but it's pretty new, so not everyone is used to it yet._

 _If you write me back, would you mind telling me a bit about Possibility? I think it would be a lot easier to get a summary from someone who actually lives there then a bunch of dusty old scrolls written by boring professors XD_

 _Sincerely, Auklet_

* * *

 **Hey guys; I just wanted to say that if you had any ideas for "Love, Orken", feel free to share them! After reading this chapter, do you want to see more of Orken or Auklet, get some more of the hybrid winglet, just anything! Well, that's all I wanted to say; hope you enjoyed this chapter!**


	4. Chapter III: Orken

**Chapter III • Orken**

* * *

"Come on; can I _please_ just come with you?" Fennec begged, racing to the door and latching onto her older sister's leg.

Exasperated, Diamondback gave her leg a small shake and let out a long, suffering sigh. From the bed, Orken tried to stifle a laugh, trying to keep his eyes on the half-burned scroll unfurled in front of him, but Diamondback's morning routine was often funnier than some boring old scroll.

"Fennec, you know the rules," Diamondback said, leaning her neck over and nudging the tiny dragonet until she fell off her leg. "How would it look if I brought you to work with me _every day?"_ To be honest, Orken didn't really see the benefits that came from trying to use logic with a dragon who hadn't even reached their first birthday, but he had learned a long time ago that when it came to his sisters, (specifically Diamondback) it was smarter to keep his mouth shut.

Still, Fennec didn't seem to get the message. Glowering, the young dragonet stamped her feet on the ground, on the verge of a tantrum. "But it's _boring_ always staying here! I don't like sitting in the house, and it's boring to go outside!" Fennec complained, whining as she thumped down in the center of the rug, groaning loudly. Orken almost scoffed; last night the young dragonet had played outside with her two lizards for almost three hours before one of them managed to get far away enough eaten by a traveling merchant.

Still, Diamondback didn't know this. Squeezing her eyes shut, Diamondback drooped her head and rubbed her temples as if she had a headache. "Ugh...damn it Fennec..." she muttered under her breath. "Look. Orken's still here! You guys can have fun!" She said, shooting Orken a look that said _just go with it._

Startled, Orken suddenly looked up. For the most part, he found it amusing when Diamondback felt the need to argue with a dragon who hadn't even reached their first birthday yet, but it was never quite as funny whenever Diamondback roped him into it with bargains he never agreed to. Still, as Fennec looked over hopefully, Orken managed to force a wide grin on his face.

"Yep. Lots of fun," Orken said through gritted teeth, shooting a vicious glare at Diamondback, who gave a smirk that Orken was sure was the face of pure evil. Fennec, however, didn't seem to notice. As soon as the words slipped out of Orken's mouth, the young SandWing seemed to completely forget her argument (if you could even call it that) with Diamondback and leaped to her feet, a wide grin splitting her face.

"You mean Orken's gonna stay here the whole time? He's not gonna go to the store or the bridge or go get jewels or anywhere else?" Fennec asked hopefully, the young dragonet already bouncing up and down on her talons in excitement. Orken, however, felt his face flush red as Fennec spoke; conveniently, he had forgotten to mention the last thing about the jewels to Diamondback.

For some reason, Diamondback had never really ever "approved" of Orken's methods to make money for their makeshift family. "We can make money _without_ resulting to being criminals," she had said one day when Orken came home with a loaf of bread ten times the price of anything they could ever afford. Snatching the bread out of his claws, Diamondback hadn't even allowed any of them to get a bite in before she had taken it back to the baker, where she had managed to get away with nothing but a slap on the wrist.

While Orken understood where Diamondback was coming from, he had never really agreed. The reason Diamondback didn't want to steal was simply that she believed that dragons should do good things, and even if they needed it more, stealing, as well as any form of crime, was wrong in her mind. Sometimes, Orken wished he could have that kind of ignorant bliss, but while Diamondback had been working two jobs just to make sure they didn't all starve to death, Orken had been exploring out on the streets, just to get outside.

What he had seen had proven that the world wasn't exactly going to listen to a pacifist who believed that there was good in everyone. Outside of the comfortable little walls of their hut was a world that no dragon in their position could survive in by "being good". In Possibility, dragons on the outskirts of the town were ravaged by poverty and debt, struggling for a mere crumb while dragons in the inner city lived it up in their big houses filled with gold and jewels.

Farther north, dragons lost their lives every day to a war they hadn't started and most likely wouldn't be able to see finished in the SandWing war against the IceWings. Orken, by this point, knew very little about the war as hardly anybody liked talking about it, but the little bit of information he had come up with so far wasn't anything good.

He heard of images of battlefields littered with bodies, the ground a checkerboard of blue and red. Fire and frostbreath matched in the sky and weapons flew at the talons of dragons in a war that wasn't theirs. In Diamondback's world, there was no "fair". You took what you could, and flew under the radar.

So when Diamondback shot Orken a vicious glare, the young SandWing didn't feel as much remorse as he should have. "Um...oops?" He said with a sheepish smile, and Diamondback shook her head again, grasping her temples.

"Orken, what have I told you?" Diamondback exhaled, the words being said in a tone like they had been used many, many times before. "You know what happens if you get caught for stealing in this part of Possibility? What part of what I've _ever_ said to you has made you think it's okay to steal?"

Orken glowered, feeling his face grow red. He hated it when Diamondback yelled at him like this, but he hated it even more when she did it in front of Fennec. He was supposed to be the big brother to her, and it didn't exactly help for her to see him get ratted out by Diamondback. Still, for once the SandWing managed to bite his tongue and merely look down. He knew Diamondback wouldn't be able to yell at him for long; she had to go to work soon, and Diamondback knew it too.

Glancing at the window at the position of the sun, Diamondback released a huff and sent Orken a murderous glare. "We'll talk about this later," she hissed, prying open the wooden door. "And don't even think about leaving this house!"

So of course, the first thing Orken thought about was leaving the house.

Not even an hour after Diamondback had left, Orken was already starting to feel like a caged animal. His talons left scuff marks on the floor as he paced the tiny house, the sun shining in through the window almost feeling like another level of torture.

With it being the fourth and middle day of the week-long Summer Festival, Orken already knew how the streets would look. The day wasn't sweltering hot like it had been a few days ago, so a larger variety if merchants and dragons would be filling the town, offering all sorts of exotic delicacies like some weird fruit from the Rainforest or a tropical fish like a pufferfish from the Sea Kingdom.

On a day like today, Orken could leave the house with an empty bag and come home with enough food for a week. Instead, here he was, pacing the room like a half-crazed lion.

Fennec, however, seemed oblivious to her brother's frustration. "Orken! Ya wanna play with my pets?" She asked, holding up a tiny barn owl that she had caught outside that day to replace her missing lizard.

Scowling, Orken looked down. The owl was so old it was coughing up its own feathers, but Orken didn't exactly have the heart to tell her that her new pet was two steps away from death's door. Instead, he merely shook his head and turned over.

"Just...not now, Fennec, alright? We'll play later," Orken grumbled, scratching designs on the kitchen table with his claw. Even though Orken thought he was making it perfectly clear that he really wanted to be alone right now, Fennec still didn't seem to get the message. Shrugging her shoulders, the young dragonet gently placed her owl down on the floor, and stood on her hind legs, propping her arms on the table and beaming.

"Alright! So what _do_ you want to do? You could read to me, or we could cook something, or you could teach me about barn owls so I know how to take care of my own owl..." Fennec rambled on, grinning as she continued to rattle off a list of things she and Orken could do together.

Groaning quietly, Orken massaged his temples. He loved his sister; honestly, he did. It was just that sometimes, he found it kind of hard to deal with the dragonet's hyperactive attitude. Normally, he would happy to play with his sister, but today with the whole grounded-while-the-summer-festival-is-going-on-becauDiamondbackack-is-such-a-stickler-about-a-messed-up-system thing going on, he just really wasn't in the mood for it today.

"Look Fennec, I—" Orken began, massaging his temples, but he never got to finish his sentence. Just as he was about to as politely as possible tell his sister how he didn't want to play right now, he was interrupted by something—an odd noise. It was kind of metallic and hollow, like a piece of metal jiggling against another, quiet and high-pitched, but still there.

If Orken had a normal childhood, where he didn't have to worry about having enough food or if he had a really big house like the rich dudes in the center of the city, he might not have noticed it. But any thief in Possibility could recognize the sound of a lock being picked even a mile away.

Pricking his ears, Orken silently thanked his sharp SandWing hearing as he turned his attention from Fennec to the door, where the cheap brass doorknob was being jiggled around in it's place, banging against it's spot in the door.

If it hadn't been for the voice outside the door, Orken might have actually felt threatened. But as long as he had been alive, he hadn't known anyone who had cursed as much trying to pick a lock as the dragon behind the door right now.

Smiling, Orken leaned against the wall beside the door. "You know, your technique could really use some work," he said playfully, and although it was muffled, he thought he heard a vague _"f*ck you,"_ come from outside. Before Orken could even think of a smart retort, he finally heard the door unlock with a satisfying click, followed by what sounded like a _"got it."_

Swinging open the door, Orken shook his head as he was greeted with a face he had seen many times, in many, many situations (most of them illegal). Standing outside, outlined by the bright afternoon sun, the dragon that stood before him looked almost angelic. The irony, Orken found, was that displayed across his face was a devilish grin and an odd glint in his eyes, that just made teachers go "don't even think about it!" and stick him right in the front row.

His yellow scales were slightly brighter than an average SandWing, almost gold, like the shimmering necklaces that hung in the storefronts near the richer sections of Possibility. A large barb sat at the end of his tail, curled dangerously as if he would strike at any moment, and patches of red spiraled along his scales, almost resembling tiny fireballs. However, that wasn't the only odd thing about him.

Rather than having one long spine that ran the length of his body down to his tail, this dragon had a series of smaller, singular vibrant red curved spikes that glinted in the sunlight. His face was too curved, too slim, not at all like the bulky head of a SandWing, and his wings seemed much too large, the wing membrane a vibrant shade of red. This dragon obviously didn't seem like a normal dragon, but he wasn't an entirely new species either. He was sometime special, something slowly becoming more and more common in Possibility.

With one glance, you could tell that this dragon was a hybrid. A SandWing-SkyWing hybrid, to be exact. And one of Orken's best friends.

"Wow Mercury, you really need to step up your game. I could hear you a mile away," Orken quipped, smirking as the dragon entered the house, blowing on the talon that he had picked the lock with like it was a smoking rifle. At Orken's words, the hybrid called Mercury stopped dead in his tracks. "Please. Try to beat 10.4 seconds," he said, tapping his head like it was obvious.

Orken merely rolled his eyes. "Try a personal record of 7.2," he said as causally as he could, studying his talons.

"5.6," Mercury retorted, nudging Orken in the side with the tip of his massive wing, which almost knocked the young SandWing over.

"You jackass," Orken said, giving a mischievous smile, and Mercury simply responded with a shrug of his shoulders. "You'd be lying if you said I wasn't," Mercury said casually, strolling over to the table and placing himself in one of the seats, getting comfortable as if he lived there his whole life, which he practically did. Mercury's parents, Quicksand and Heaven, had apparently been good friends with Orken's parents, which in Orken's book pretty much meant that the two of them were kind of destined to be friends before either of them was even born.

After his parents died, Mercury's family had kind of been Orken and his sister's saving grace. During the first month, Mercury's mom, Heaven, had been constantly checking in, asking if they were "getting enough to eat" and "coping well" and all that. Even when they really started struggling for food and money, Diamondback had always insisted that they were fine, never really accepting any outside help. Whenever Orken brought this up, she always said that they were actually alright, but going to bed hungry and the leaky roof had made Orken suspect that Diamondback had secretly done it out of pride.

"Orken, I thought that Diamondback said she didn't like you hanging out with Mercury," Fennec said, cocking her head as she curiously studied the older dragon. At Fennec's words, Orken cringed; technically speaking, it _was_ true, considering in Diamondback's words he was a "bad influence" or something.

Mercury, however, didn't seem to mind at all. "Aw come on, kid," he said, reaching down and rubbing the top of Fennec's head in a friendly manner. "We all know she can't exactly get rid of me," he said with the cockiness of someone who would take this fact to the grave, and right away Orken knew that he was right. Getting rid of Mercury would be like getting rid of another part of the family; he was pretty much too far in to get rid of at this point.

"Besides, I have something for both of you," Mercury said, and as he did, Orken noticed that around Mercury's neck was a brown leathery satchel, old and withered with age, but there was obviously some things in it, as it was bulging at the bottom.

Suddenly excited at the idea of getting a present, Fennec leaped back in excitement, clapping her talons together. "Ooh, really?" She asked, bouncing on her feet. "What is it?"

Smiling, Mercury reached into the bag and pulled out a single scroll, the words _Young Dragonets Guide to Animals of Pyrrhia_ spread across it in big black bubble letters. At the sight of it, Fennec let out a delighted squeal, quickly snatching the scroll from his talons and flapping across the room to her wire bed, spreading the scroll out as her eyes flew across the surface.

Mercury gave a slight chuckle. "Yeah, you're always talking about how she's always getting those pets, so I just thought that I might be able to pick that up for her," he said as casually as he could, but Orken wasn't surprised. With the hybrid constantly sitting around the house, at this point he had almost become like another one of Fennec's older brothers.

Then, from Fennec's spot on the bed, Orken took a look at the price tag hanging from the surface of the scroll: _15 silver coins._ "Dude," Orken marveled, nudging Mercury with his wing tip. "How did you get that?" Mercury gave Orken a look like the answer was obvious.

"Have you seen the stuff at the festival?" Mercury asked, the arches above his eyes raised in surprise. "They've got all sorts of stuff like that! With all the dragons around, hardly anyone is paying attention to their stuff. How are you not out there yet?"

Suddenly, Orken felt his face flush red as he averted his eyes. "I...um..." he stuttered, staring down at his talons as he scratched the floorboard with his talons again (which was beginning to become a nervous habit). "Um...Diamondback kind of grounded me..."

Orken couldn't even get the words fully out before the corner of Mercury's mouth started twitching. Orken looked up and scowled. "You're trying not to laugh, aren't you?"

"What? No, no, I'm fine. Go on."

"Well, she banned me from going outside for at least today, and maybe the rest of the Summer Festival depending on how it works out—"

Orken couldn't even get through a full sentence before Mercury completely gave up. A loud burst of laughter exploded from the hybrid's mouth, echoing throughout the house like he had just heard the funniest thing he had ever had the pleasure of bearing witness to. Orken merely rolled his eyes. "Come on dude, really?" He muttered, exasperated. Mercury, however, didn't seem to care about Orken's reaction.

"Three...moons Orken...what are you, two?" Mercury managed to sputter out between gasps, the hybrid holding his belly as he collapsed onto the floor. "My gosh, my parents haven't grounded me in like, a year!"

"Yeah, because you're better at not getting caught," Orken quipped, listing off times in his head when Mercury should have at least spent the night in jail (which was quite a lot). Finally getting a hold of himself, Mercury straightened up and slapped Orken on the back. "Well, you need to brush up on that too! Come on, we're blowing this joint," he said, starting toward the door.

Before Orken could say anything, Mercury suddenly stopped short, as if he had just remembered something. "Oh! Almost forgot; there was this thing waiting outside your door too," he said, reaching into his bag and pulling out a single envelope, white with a green wax seal keeping it closed. On the back, the words _Orken of the SandWings; Deliver to Possibility_ were sprawled in black calligraphy, and the return address read _Jade Mountain._

However, as Orken gave it a closer inspection, he realized that the green seal that kept it shut had already been broken, and the top of the letter inside was sticking out. _"Princess Auklet of the_ —" Mercury read, skipping to the bottom to see who it was from, before Orken quickly snatched it out of his talons. "Nice try," he said with a smirk, taking the letter and tucking it under his wing.

"Aw come on! A princess? Just let me see!" Mercury begged. "I bet she's your _girlfriend_ —"

"You idiot," Orken joked, shoving Mercury with his wing tip. "It's a freaking pen pal project." As he spoke, Orken shifted his wing, feeling the paper rustle against the membrane. He hadn't really expected Auklet to write back to him; at least not so soon, considering she would probably be busy with school and princess-y things. Still, he wasn't about to complain; he thought it was kind of nice that she had written back so soon.

Still, he didn't tell Mercury any of this; he would practically be asking to be teased. "Whatever. I thought you were talking about going to the Summer Festival," he grumbled, shoving past him and walking towards the door.

"Wait! I thought that Diamondback told you to stay here!" Fennec called out, suddenly looking up from her scroll. Orken suddenly stopped short, then groaned. "Ah, right—I can't leave Fennec home alone all day," he grumbled, glancing back at his sister. The young SandWing sat there, looking at Orken defiantly as if she could already sense the gravity of the punishment Diamondback would get in when—or _if_ she found out. Suddenly, Orken could feel the gears in his head turning, the way they always did when he was working out a plan.

"Fennec—would you be willing to come to the Summer Festival with me and Mercury to the Summer Festival?" Orken suggested, putting on his most brotherly winning-smile that he could manage. Mercury, however, didn't seem to like Orken's idea of working things out.

"Wait, what? Orken, we can't have a kid trailing around with us! I don't want to be watching out for some dragonet; and I doubt Crystalline will want to either," he said, crossing his arms, and Orken slightly cringed. He doubted Crystalline, their IceWing friend, would be exactly ecstatic about having Orken's little sister hanging out with them.

"Come on; I can't just leave her here all day," Orken whispered, pulling Mercury off to the side. "She's not even a year old yet! She'll burn the house down or get kidnapped and taken for ransom or something!" Mercury just groaned and rolled his eyes; but he knew by now that when it came to family matters not to argue with Orken.

"Crystalline's not gonna be happy," he muttered, waltzing toward the door. Ignoring him, Orken turned around and looked back at his sister. "Congratulations Fennec! Today, you get to come to the Summer Festival with us!" At first, Fennec cocked her head. "Are you teasing me? Because it isn't very funny," she frowned, but then as Orken shrugged his shoulders and gestured to the door, Fennec suddenly sat up straighter. "Wait—I really get to come with you?"

Without hesitation, Fenned sprang up from the bed and sprinted to the door, squealing in excitement. As she did, Mercury just looked at Orken, and shook his head.

"Come on," Orken said, closing the door behind him. "What's the worst that could happen?"


	5. Chapter IV: Orken

**Chapter IV** **•** **Orken**

* * *

The moment they were in the center of town, Orken felt like he had made the right choice.

At first, he had been a bit nervous. Fenne had been around Possibility, of course, but that was with Diamondback around and in the safer, tamer parts of Possibility, where there wasn't any gangs or someone trying to pedal you into buying a tiny, stale scorpion for twenty gold coins.

As he, Mercury, and Fennec weaved through the bustling Possibility streets, Orken had almost been able to let go of the tension he had carried around with him at the thought of Crystalline seeing that they had decided to bring Fennec. The bright afternoon sun beat down on the busy city, which could have been almost unbearably hot if a cool breeze wasn't gently billowing through the streets, giving the day a pleasant feel.

Orken's talons were already itching, his eyes darting around in every direction, looking for anything edible or valuable that wasn't properly tied down. Quick as a flash, he managed to reach over and nab a loaf of bread from a tall SandWing's stand while her back was turned, stuffing it in his bag. Just feeling the warm food in his talons gave Orken a rush of pleasure, the same pleasure he felt every time he was out. A thin smile split his lips; he knew he made the right choice.

Mercury, however, didn't seem to agree. The hybrid's face kept getting more and more anxious every time Fennec paused to stare at a display of something or Orken had to pull her away from something that looked sketchy or dangerous.

"I hope you know this is a terrible idea," Mercury said casually as he reached over and took what looked like a small piece of goat meat and placed it under his wing as of nothing had happened. "And Crystalline will think so too."

Orken merely scoffed and rolled his eyes, trying to seem nonchalant about the whole ordeal, but he couldn't keep his stomach from turning at Mercury's suggestion. He had nearly forgotten about Crystalline. The young IceWing was one of the only girls Orken could talk to without getting tongue-tied that wasn't in his family, but he wasn't sure she counted as a real girl.

For one, most girls he knew didn't carry around blades the size of his foot. "It's self-defense," she would say constantly, but Orken was half certain she carried it around to look tougher. That wasn't saying she wasn't tough, though. The one time they had actually fought, she had beaten Orken in talon-to-talon combat, pinning him to the floor and grabbing his tail barb, rendering it useless before he could even get a few words in.

The IceWing was the opposite of the way Orken often thought of IceWings, being all snobby and stuck-up and having that weird circle system that Crystalline had told him about once, and instead reminded him more of a grizzly bear. In fact, he had actually met her in one of the rougher parts of Possibility, the parts where he usually didn't even go.

The memory was so vivid, it was almost like it was tattooed in his brain. He still remembered three-year-old him, wandering around and separated from his parents.

 _"Who are you?"_

 _Orken practically jumped out of his scales at the voice, resonating from deep inside the alley. The warm summer rain pattered on the stones and dirt; running off of his scales in rivulets. The shadows here seemed longer, and the pair of black eyes, deep blue iris peering out at him, only heightened his nerves. "W-Who are you?" He muttered, trying to hide how nervous he had actually been. Where were his parents when he needed them?_

 _The eyes suddenly moved without warning, shifting so smoothly and silently Orken almost thought he was being stalked by a ghost. However, as he saw the multiple horns sticking out of her neck and moon pale scales, he drew slight comfort from the idea that it was an actual dragon. Still, her hardened expression still made his stomach turn; like she had seen more things than any dragon that young should ever see. She appeared to be about his age and looked at him with mild curiosity._

 _"I asked you first," she said, frowning slightly. Orken swallowed the lump in his throat, trying to speak._

 _"I-I'm Orken," he managed, and the IceWing girl cocked her head as if evaluating him, seeing if he was trustworthy._

 _She must have decided he was, for a moment later she said a single word. "Crystalline." She said. She reached out her small, scarred talon. Slowly, Orken took it._

Orken quickly shook the memory out of his mind. Even then, when they were both so young, she had seemed hardened and scary, especially to a three-year-old. For some reason, he got the feeling that now, at six years, she wouldn't take a liking to dragonets who weren't even a year old.

Stepping back for a moment, Orken gently grabbed Fennec's talon and pulled her aside, crouching down so they looked at each other eye-to-eye. "Hey Fennec," he said, looking her straight in the eye. "You have to be on your best behavior right now. No wandering off. No throwing a tantrum. Don't talk to strangers. Don't take any food offered to you. Just stay close to me. Do you understand?"

Fennec bit her lip for a second as if trying to process her brother's request. "Yeah, Orken, I understand," she said in a tiny voice, and Orken could tell from the way she looked at him that she would try to hold up her deal. Not because she understood the request, but because she didn't want to disappoint her big brother. Still, Orken could see from the way she was bouncing up and down that wasn't going to be easy. Patting her on the back, Orken shot her a faint smile, trying to regain the feelings of confidence he had felt earlier, and stood up straighter.

"Hey, where are we supposed to meet Crystalline?" He asked Mercury, whose wings were now noticeably bulging with stolen goods.

"She's by the old plaza," he said, turning a corner into a dirtier section of town, where the buildings started to look noticeably older and the dragons rougher. Orken made sure to keep a close eye on Fennec. Giving a small nod, Orken curled his tail barb in as he, Mercury and Fennec marched through the streets of Possibility, trying to stay out of the eyesight of anyone that looked important, like police officers or wealthy dragons too far to pickpocket.

Finally, the three of them emerged into what looked like a large plaza, that had probably once been nice but years of time and poor care had reduced it to a shell of its old self. Slowly crumbling buildings surrounded the plaza; whether or not anyone still lived in them was Orken's guess.

A large fountain with the stone ducks on the sides and two tiers sat in the center, and though it had probably at one point gurgled lively with water, it was now dry to the bone, slowly filling with dust. Sitting beside the large foundation, a small IceWing girl with moon pale scales sat, small beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Orken recognized her instantly, from the small scar underneath her left eye to her hardened eyes and the long blade sticking out from her bag around her neck.

Still, even being as tough as she was, beads of sweat formed on the IceWing's forehead and scales as her mouth hung open in an almost pant, and Orken couldn't help feeling a little sympathy for her. Although Crystalline had been born and raised in Possibility, IceWings were made for subzero temperatures. Even though she had lived through six summers in the Sand Kingdom, she never seemed to fully get used to the heat.

Mercury, on the other talon, seemed undeterred by Crystalline's obvious discomfort. "Yo, Crystalline!" He called out, racing up to the IceWing. In the heat, Crystalline responded with a murderous glare, sweat dripping from her snout.

"What took you so f*ing long?" Crystalline growled, her eyes narrowing into dangerous slits as she practically melted off the fountain.

Squinting his eyes, Orken looked up. From the position of the sun, it was at least high noon by now. He wondered how long Crystalline had been waiting, but from the furious look in her eyes and the sweat on her face, he would guess it hadn't exactly been a short wait.

Mercury shot a small, nervous smile, rubbing the back of his head. "See, there was a little issue with Orken..."

"I got grounded," Orken interrupted flatly, not wanting to drag the story on any longer than it needed to be. It wasn't exactly a moment he wanted to relish in.

For a moment, Crystalline was silent. Then, without warning, Orken saw the corners of her mouth twitching, and her face starting to flush a pale blue.

"Are you laughing?" He asked, and Crystalline shook her head.

"What, no? Loser, I'm not laughing. You're just being really paranoid, thinking that I would laugh at you for being ground—uh, ground—"

Suddenly, Crystalline burst out laughing, her body shaking as she clenched her sides. Orken just sighed and rolled his eyes. "Very mature, Crystal," he muttered, kicking the ground with his foot, and Crystalline looked up, tears glistening in her eyes.

"Sorry it's just...well, only _you_ could manage to be a six-year-old dragon and _still_ get grounded," she managed, and Orken merely sighed. He knew how Crystalline saw him; even though they were the same age, she saw him kind of as "the baby of the group", which had for some reason always got on Orken's nerves. He figured it was because in her mind "he was soft" or something, though compared to Crystalline or even Mercury he probably was.

He wasn't willing to get into a fist fight like Crystalline, or able to talk and charm his way out of a situation like Mercury. There was one thing he was good at; high tailing it the heck out of there. He was small for his size, very flexible and looked like every other SandWing in Possibility (save for the small sprinkling of freckles across his snout) which made it easy for him to maneuver out of tight situations. If he was caught snatching something from a store shop, he preferred to choose the non-confrontational way and race out into the streets, where he could easily get lost in the crowd, or, if possible, make it back to the house.

He made the mistake of telling Crystalline the reason he did this was that "he didn't like confrontation", and by that point, she was already convinced he was pretty quiet. So apparently this non-confrontational way of handling problems was like frosting on the cake for her and innocent-little-Orken. So hearing that he of all dragons had probably just made her day.

"Hardy har har," he mumbled rolling his eyes. He felt like he should be bothered by it, but honestly, he had become desensitized to this kind of stuff a long time ago. "Can we just—"

Suddenly, Orken's suggestion was cut short when Crystalline's laughter suddenly stopped, like a faucet abruptly turning off. It happened so quickly, Orken almost thought she had choked or someone had stabbed her, but when he heard the tiny voice resonating from her feet, she realized it was much worse.

"Don't you dare laugh at my brother!" Fennec cried, pounding her tiny fists against Crystalline's hind leg. Fennec was only a quarter of Crystalline's size, if that, but from the way she hit her you would think she expected Crystalline to collapse to the ground. The IceWing however, only looked annoyed at discovering the tiny dragonet, a small frown crossing her face. Wordlessly, she reached down and picked up the dragonet by the back of her neck in one talon, Fennec still swinging.

"What the f*** is this?" She hissed, looking Fennec dead in the eye. Orken instinctively stepped forward, his brotherly instincts kicking in, but Mercury held out a massive wing to hold him back. They both knew that Crystalline most likely wouldn't hurt the tiny SandWing, but Orken was still a bit weary.

Mercury opened his mouth, about to explain, but Crystalline obviously got it before he could say. "Wait...Orken's sister?" She said, her face dawning with understanding. Fennec crossed her arms. "My name is Fennec," she huffed. "And you said a bad word!"

Crystalline ignored Fennec as she turned to face Orken, putting Fennec down on the ground. "What. The. Hell." She growled, looking Orken dead in the eye.

Orken rubbed the back of his neck. "Well...Diamondback was at work and...I couldn't just leave her home alone all day..."

Crystalline groaned, putting her face in her talons. "Are you kidding me?" She cried. "We already had plans for today! BIG plans! I don't want to go around watching some dopey—"  
"She's not dopey," Orken interrupted.  
"Yeah, whatever. Sorry," she grumbled under her breath, which was the closest she would ever get to an apology.

"But anyway, I wouldn't think you would bring some random dragonet with us on the days of the freaking Summer Festival! Orken, you know this is the best time of the year, and motherf***er Orken, I don't want to be watching over some baby dragon the whole time!" Crystalline yelled, flapping her wings furiously.

Fennec, however, didn't look the least bit deterred by this. "I can take care of myself! I promised I would!" She announced as if she had just invalidated everything Crystalline had said.

Mercury raised the arches above his eyes, looking at Orken in an _I told you so_ way. Orken merely lowered his head, kicking at the dirt, but his eyes hardened. "Look," he began. "I know this isn't ideal or whatever, but this was my best decision. Diamondback won't be back until later, and I couldn't just leave her at the house all day, so..." his voice trailed off sheepishly.

Crystalline looked at Orken for a moment, then sighed and rubbed her temples, muttering an unsavory word under her breath. "Motherf***er...fine, whatever. Whatever. I don't even care at this point, but she's _your_ responsibility. I think you knew good and well that the Summer Festival is by far the worst place for a super young dragonet to be, so whatever happens, it's all on you. Don't expect me to come rushing after her if she gets into trouble," Crystalline huffed, spreading her moon pale wings and hovering in the air.

Orken felt a tug on his wing and looked down to see Fennec gazing up at him with big, brown eyes. "She's mean," she said in a loud whisper.

Crystalline shrugged. "I've been called worse," she said simply, raising up higher into the air and hovering in place, looking down and waiting for all of them.

Orken leaned down so he and Fennec could look at each other eye-to-eye. "Don't worry, she's not usually this mean," he whispered. Mercury merely shrugged his shoulders and made a small face. "Eh," he said, moving his talon in a kind of wavering gesture. Orken rolled his eyes at Mercury, taking to the sky and gesturing for Fennec to follow.

Not even a minute in the air, Mercury flew up to him, a smug smile on his face. Orken released a long, suffering sigh. "Just say it."  
"Say what?" Mercury said as innocently as possible, which to Orken, made him seem even more demonic.  
"I told you so."

"Nah, I would rather savor the moment of being right right here, right now," Mercury said, licking his lips as if he were eating that goat he had stored in his wings, which was now safely tucked away in Orken's bag as they flew.  
"You weirdo," Orken said, shoving Mercury with his wing, but even still he was smiling."

"Admit it, you love me."  
"I bet you're gay."  
"That could also be accurate," Mercury said with a shrug.

"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP?" Crystalline cried from ahead. "You're both gay, move on!" Mercury managed to stifle and snicker as he punched Orken with his massive wing, which nearly bowled him over. Crystalline not-so-discreetly mumbled "idiots" under her breath and continued.

"Besides, I want to get to inner Possibility and still have time to do our thing." She said, looking straight ahead, her eyes locked on the center of Possibility. Orken shrugged his shoulders; he could see why she wanted to get there, they had all planned this a week before. The inner center of Possibility was where the dragons with all the money lived, in their large houses and perfectly manicured gardens. Perhaps it wasn't as nice as some of the richer parts of the Sky or the Ice Kingdom, but it was the nicest city Orken had seen in person and the best place for a dirt-poor dragon to be during the summer festival.

Occasionally glancing behind him to make sure Fennec was keeping up, the four of them flew, but even in silence, Crystalline's words couldn't help reverberating in Orken's skull: _the worst place for a young dragonet to be._ Of course, he had heard stories about super young dragonets getting lost or kidnapped in the big crowds, with strange dragons from every corner of Pyrrhia flooding in, but this was different. He would be a good brother; he would protect her.

He thought about that girl, his pen pal Princess Auklet, who went to that big school Jade Mountain Academy. He imagined an immaculate school so much different from his own school, or rather his own town, run by the Dragonets of Destiny themselves. Even though he had only been alive during the last year of the SandWing War of Succession, he barely remembered his parent's hushed discussions about how the war was going and the so-called "Dragonets of Destiny" who would put an end to all of it.

Just for a moment, he allowed his mind to wonder what it would be to live in a place like that: a place where he didn't have to steal to survive, a place where everyone was so accepting and loving, where you didn't have to worry about your naiive little sisters getting kidnapped or something in large crowds. Just for a moment, he allowed himself to think of what that would be like.

Suddenly, Orken was yanked out of his thoughts by a tug on his wing. "Orken, you alive in there?" Mercury said, and Orken realized the hybrid had been saying his name. "What?" He said suddenly, jolting to attention.

"We're here."

* * *

 **Hey guys, sorry for the long delay with the chapter! I'm going to try to update much more frequently, and though I'm still kind of planning out the whole story, I've got a basic idea of what you want to happen, which means I'm going to be writing this much more often. If you liked this chapter, please leave a review! I love reading through what you guys think; you guys are basically the spirit that keeps me writing. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and keep in tune for more!**


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